Suction pipe elevator



Jan. 14, 1941.

L. M. MAXWELL SUCTION PIPE ELEVATOR Filed March 25, 1940 il l Li/LA M. MAXWELL Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March 25 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a suction pipe elevator.

An object of the invention is to provide novel means for controlling the elevation of the nozzle end of a suction pipe through which drilling fluid is taken from the pit and pumped into the well in the process of rotary well drilling.

As is well known while drilling by the rotary process, circulation of the drilling fluid must be maintained in order to carry out the cuttings from the drill as well as to maintain the walls of the well. This drilling fluid, or drilling mud as it is commonly known, should be maintained at a specific gravity suflicient to give it the required weight to maintain the walls of the well. It is taken from the pit adjacent the well and forced down through the drill pipe and back up through the casing around the drill pipe and returned to the pit. The heavier fluid will settle to the bottom leaving the lighter fluid at the top, while in the pit. Therefore, the suction nozzle of the suction pipe must be adjusted vertically from time to time so as to obtain drilling fluid from the pit of the desired specific gravity.

It is the prime object of the present invention to provide novel and efficient means for adjusting the suction pipe so as to maintain the suction nozzle at the desired level.

With the above and other objects in view the invention has particular relation to certain novel features of construction, operation and arrangement of parts, an example of which is given in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a vertical, sectional view of the elevator.

Figure 2 shows an elevational view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 shows an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view.

wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the numerals I, I designate upright supports of any preferred construction and supported in any preferred manner on opposite sides of the pit 2. The upright supports I, I support a cross-rod 3 whose ends are attached to said supports in any preferred manner.

Well drilling equipment employing the rotary drilling method usually includes two slush pumps indicated in the present illustration by the numerals 4 and 5. While one pump is operating the other is merely a standby pump for emergency use. The drilling mud is pumped from the pit through one or the other of the suction pipes B, "I connected to the respective pumps and is driven through the stand pipe 8 and hose 9 down through Referring now more particularly to the drawing 1940, Serial No. 325,754

the drill stem I0 and is returned up through the well casing I I and the return pipe I2 into the pit. The suction pipes are very heavy and terminate at their outer lower ends in screened suction nozzles I3, I4 which are submerged in the drilling fluid in the pit.

The suction pipes are supported from the crossrod 3 by elevators designated generally by the numerals I5, I6, each elevator comprising an upper cylinder I1 and a lower cylinder I8. The upper cylinder has an upper end hook I9 engageable over the cross-rod 3 and each lower cylinder has a lower end hook 20 engageable through aneye 2I carried by the corresponding suction pipe. The lower ends of the cylinders H are internally threaded and the upper ends of the cylinders I8 are internally threaded, the threads of the cylinders I8 being pitched reversely with respect to the pitch of the threads of the cylinders I1 and these respective cylinders are connected by the externally threaded elevator rods 22, 22 which are screwed therein as more clearly shown in Figure 3. Fixed on said rods are the hand wheels 23, 23 by means of which they may be turned for adjusting the corresponding suction pipies. A workmans platform 24 is supported by the upright supports for access to the elevators.

The cylinders I'I, I8 are kept filled with a suitable lubricant. whereby the threads will be kept lubricated for easy operation of the elevators.

The drawing and description are illustrative merely, while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An attachment for a well drilling fluid pump comprising a suction pipe, adapted to be connected to said pump, an upper and a lower cylinder, the upper and lower ends of said respective cylinders being closed and their other ends being reversely threaded, an elevator rod whose ends are threaded into the ends of said cylinders, means for rotating said rod, a supporting hook on the upper cylinder and an engaging hook on the lower cylinder engageable with the suction pipe.

2. A suction pipe elevator comprising an upper and a lower cylinder, the upper and lower ends of said respective cylinders being closed and their other ends being reversely threaded, an elevator rod whose ends are threaded into the ends of said cylinders, a hand wheel on the rod for rotating the same, a supporting hook on the upper cylinder and an engaging hook on the lower cylinder engageable with the suction pipe to be elevated, and a frame including uprights and a cross arm from which the supporting hook is suspended.

L A M- M X E L- 

